For true freedom of design, 3D metal printing enables incredible solutions in industries as diverse as manufacturing and medicine. Now the technique has generated a humane resolution to a difficult problem confronting a team of veterinarians. For the first time ever, a prosthetic titanium beak has been manufactured using 3D metal printing and implanted on Gigi, a blue macaw (a genus of the parrot family). This unusual prosthetic saved Gigi’s life, as macaws are unable to eat solid foods without a beak.

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